My first attempt

[Legion]

I just finished my first restore on a straight blade. It is not perfect, there are some little signs of where the rust used to be, if you look at it the right way. But, considering what it was like to start with, and that I used no power tools at all, I think it came out OK. Certainly it should be quite usable when it is honed, anyway.

I picked this to be my first restore because it was such an ugly duckling that it would never sell as it was. But under all the mess the blade still seemed in good shape with little hone wear or chips or anything like that. And I figured, if I can make a silk purse out of this sows ear, I know what I am in for when I start on all the other razors I have lying around that are in better condition.

It all took about twice as long as it should have because I spent a night sanding at it with a grit that was way too high to remove the damage. Once I worked that out I had to start again. Oh well, I'll know better next time.

Before

After

 

[Mark1966]

Very, very nice. If only I was this skilled....

 

[thirdeye]

Very nice work sir.....

 

[johnmrson]

Very nice job indeed. I have future plans of having a go at restoring a straight or two. If I do have the job you did, I'll be happy.

 

[Pumpkin]

That's a really nice clean up!

 

[grump]

Great job on that blade.

Any pics with it back in the scales?

 

[Joe Edson]

Good job! I'm hoping my first restore will come out that well.

 

[Legion]

Great job on that blade.

Any pics with it back in the scales?

Not yet. I didn't like the scales that it was in so I wasn't too gentle about removing them. I am going to make completely new ones but, without the necessary power tools, I am going to have to think about my plan of attack. It's possible, of course. It just slows things down.

 

[Luc]

Nice work! What did you use? How long did it take?

 

[Legion]

Nice work! What did you use? How long did it take?

I just used progressively finer grits of sandpaper, by hand, from 220 to 2000. And it took HOURS! (About 6 )

Then I polished it with Brasso. I might try with a different, more abrasive metal polish next time. Brasso didn't make a whole lot of difference.

 

[Luc]

I just used progressively finer grits of sandpaper, by hand, from 220 to 2000. And it took HOURS! (About 6 )

Then I polished it with Brasso. I might try with a different, more abrasive metal polish next time. Brasso didn't make a whole lot of difference.

I found the same with Brasso... Unless I'm not using it right...

 

[johnmrson]

Brasso is hard on soft silver plating but won't do much on solid steel. If you can find some Brown Tripoli cutting compound, put that on some steel wool and use that to polish the blade.

 

[Joe Edson]

I just used progressively finer grits of sandpaper, by hand, from 220 to 2000. And it took HOURS! (About 6 )

Then I polished it with Brasso. I might try with a different, more abrasive metal polish next time. Brasso didn't make a whole lot of difference.

Just started on a Wade and Butcher by hand like you. Started with 320 and after about an hour I realized I needed to go down to 220. After another hour, I think I'm ready to start back at 320 and go from there. Unfortunately my auto parts store only had up to 1000 grit, so it will have to sit at that point until I can get some 1500 and 2000.

 

[Legion]

Just started on a Wade and Butcher by hand like you. Started with 320 and after about an hour I realized I needed to go down to 220. After another hour, I think I'm ready to start back at 320 and go from there. Unfortunately my auto parts store only had up to 1000 grit, so it will have to sit at that point until I can get some 1500 and 2000.

Yeah, I have the same problem where I live. I went to the local hardware store and they only had up to 600. So then I had to drive to the auto store. When I decided I needed rougher paper the hardware store was out of that but now had up to 2000.

 

[johnmrson]

Yeah, I have the same problem where I live. I went to the local hardware store and they only had up to 600. So then I had to drive to the auto store. When I decided I needed rougher paper the hardware store was out of that but now had up to 2000.

Are you anywhere near a Bunnings? I was able to pick up quite a few different grades of wet and dry yesterday from my local one in anticipation of my first restore sometime in the future.

 

[kg4ghn]

You did a horrible job. Put some scales on it that look equally bad then send it to me and I will try my best not to shudder every time I use it...

 

[ZlinMan]

I only hope my first attempt will turn out like this.!

 

[Legion]

Are you anywhere near a Bunnings? I was able to pick up quite a few different grades of wet and dry yesterday from my local one in anticipation of my first restore sometime in the future.

Yeah, there's a Bunnings kind of near. My closest is a Magnet Mart, which is basically the same thing, a massive warehouse with nothing slightly unusual. 50 isles of paint, though. And about 750 different types of lawn mower petrol tin.

I think I might just stock up on stuff as they have it. You can never have enough wet and dry sandpaper. Or Dremel bits.

 

[BillEllis]

I can see by the good job you did on your first effort, that you are in trouble as we speak. Drop the sandpaper... and run away.


It will only lead to this:

 

[BillEllis]

Oh, and one of these might help.

They are easy to make. Here's the link to that thread.